Improvement in apparatus for nicking the heads of screw-blanks



- UNITED STATES H. A. HARVEY, NEW YORK, N. Y.

l IMPROVEMENT lN APPARATUS FOR-NICKING THE HEADS 0F SCREW-BLANKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. L12,768, dated May 17, 1864; antedatcd April 26, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, H. A. HARVEY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus or Machine for N ickin g the Heads of Wood-Screws and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

vIn the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the same 5 and Fig. 4 is a detail view, partly in section and partly in elevation, explanatory of the delivery apparatus.

The machine consists, principally, of a series of sliding and rotating receivers and holders capable of gripping a blank, as in a vise,which receive screw-blanks and transfer them in succession to the place where they are to be nicked, acting in combination with a sliding gripping apparatus, which causes the holders to grip the screws, and with a saw, or some equivalent thereof, for cutting the slits in the heads. Connected with these are apparatus for giving proper motions to the series of receivers and holders and the saw, and also propermachinery for delivering the screw-blanks into the receivers.

lAll parts of the machine are mounted upon a strong frame, a a, and in this frame are two slots, b b-one on each side thereofwhich support and guide two boxes, c c, in which revolve the journals of a carrying-wheel, which supports the series of holders and receivers. These boxes are embraced by a forked slide, d d, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) and as the slide is moved the journals of the wheel slide with it.

The carrying-wheel eis mounted in journals inclosed in the boxes, and has secured upon it spring receivers and holders e e e', which are made, by preference, of tubes of steel,with slits sawed therein, as shown in the drawings. Each receiver may, if desired, have a set-screw in the bottom thereof, as shown in the drawings, so as to adjust the depth of the bore to dierent lengths of screws. The open end of each of these bores maybe chamfered so as to fit a part of the bevel on the under side of the screw-head, and the outer portion of the receiver at the end thereof is coned, as shown in the drawings, so as to t when it enters a conical gripper, f. This gripper f is a conical socket formed in a staple-shaped piece of metal, one part of which rests upon a crossbar, f, attached to the frame. The two ends of the staples have holes in them, which embrace rods f f2, also attached to the frame or the cross-bar, and the gripper can slide to and fro, being forced toward the carrying-wheel by springs which surround the rods. The essentials of the gripping apparatus are, that it shall tit the ends ofthe receivers so as to cause them to grip the blank, and shall be capable of sliding toward and away from the axis of the carrying-wheel.

Just in front of the gripper is the nicking-V saw g, which 1 prefer to mount on conical screw-bearings. On the saw-journals is a cogwheel, g2, which is driven by a cog-wheel, h, mounted upon a shaft, h', which may be rotated by any proper instrumentality. This shaft also carries a bevel-wheel, h2, which engages with another bevelwheel, t', mounted on a shaft, fi', running lengthwise ofthe machine, and this shaft has also mounted upon it a cogwheel, i2, which engages with another wheel,

k, mounted upon a counter-shaft, k', which also carries a wheel, kf", that engages with a wheel, l, attached to or making part ot' the revolving cam l. This cam has a grooved track or cam cut upon it, which` embraces a roller or pin, d2, attached to the slide d.

Upon one or both sides of the carryingwheel are ratchet-teeth m m. These teeth, when located on both sides of the wheel, are acted upon by a forked pawl, m', secured on top of the frame by screws m2, passing through slots in the pawl, and by a set-screw, ma, bearing against its end, so that the pawl may be properly adjusted.

In the positions in which all parts are shown in the drawings the nicking of a screw has been partly performed, and when it is finished the roller cl2 will lie inthe groove at about the position n. As the cam rotates from that position, its first action will be to draw the slide back rapidly. As the slide isdrawn back, it will carry with it the carrying-wheel and all the receivers, including the oneinserted in the gripper, andthe gripper, actuated by the springs, will follow the receiver backward until stopped by the nuts f3 f3 on the ends of the rods. A further backward motion of the slide will carry that one of the receivers that tion of the cam advances the wheel forward and throws the receiver now in line with the wheel into the socket. This socket, being retarded by the springs, bears upon the cone of` the receiver, causing it to commence to grip the screw-blank contained therein, and the head of the blank, striking against the saw, is shoved back (if it be outof place) into the receiver. A further forward motion of the slide clamps the blank firmly in the receiver and forces it against the saw, which then commences to cut the nick, and as the cam travels from u2 to u it shoves the blank slowly forward, the forward motion during that tin e being just equal to the depth ofthe nick. In order to retain the carrying-wheel in proper angular position while moving forward after it has been turned, and prior to its entering a receiver into the gripper, and in order also to prevent its being rotated too far, I apply to the slide one or more spring holding-pawls, such as are commonly used for similar purposes, and acting either upon the teeth m, or other teeth or projections. (Seezr, Fig. 3.) The nicked blanks will fall out by gravity as the carrying-wheel rotates, and I have thus far supposed that fresh blanks are to be fed into the receivers by the hand of an attendant.

By the mechanism described it will be per ceived that a single gripper or gripping-socket answers for several receivers, and that by permitting it to slide forwardwith a receiver I am enabled so to grip that a screw-blank may be advanced while firmly gripped, thus avoiding the necessity of giving any motion to the saw or saw-carriage, except a rotating one. The machine is also so contrived that a single cam gives motion to all the acting moving parts, except the saw.

Screw-blanks may be fed in succession into the receivers by any usual or proper feeding machinery suitable for the purpose; but Iprefer to deliver them to the receivers by a contrivance invented by myself, which delivers the blanks from a way while the receivers are in motion, and in which the motionl of the receivers aids in the delivery, this feed being more certain than any heretofore known to me. In order to effect this, I mount in close proximity to the machine an ordinary inclined waysuch as is used in pin and screw machinery-down which a column or row of blanks may slide by vtheir own gravity. This way is lettered o in the drawings, and its lower end is bent at right angles to the upper part thereof, and perpendicular to the axis of the carrying-wheel, as at o. In asupport or socket, p, attached to the ,way or otherwise supported in relation thereto, as shown in the drawings, is

a slide, p, andthis slide is of lless width than the space between the ways', and" can enter and ll or partially flll the space between the ways o', passing through a slit between the end of the ways o and that side of o which is marked m. (See Fi g. 2.) This slide has pivoted to it a spring-rod, q', whose end is formed into a latch, (see Fig. 2,) and beyond the latch the rod is beveled at its extremity. Another rod, r, is also attached to the slide, and this rod enters a tube and is surrounded by a spiral spring, which bears against a flange in the tube and a nut upon the end of the rod, (see Fig. 4,) the object of the whole contrivance being to retain the slide in its socket or toV draw it into itafter it has been advanced.' Upon the carrying-wheel are a series of lugs, s, and upon the frame is mountedv an unlatcher, t.

The ways are to be filled with screw-blanks either by hand or from a hopper or hopper and arranger, and the column of screws will rest against the piece m. As the carrier-wheel retreats and revolves, the lugs s push the latch on q outward without moving the slide, 4and when the carrier-wheel rests after having retreated and revolved, one ofthe receivers lies in line with the column of screws and under the last screw in the column. When the wheel commences to advance, one ofthe lugs s takes against the latch, and by this the slide is moved forward just as fast as the wheel moves, and as the slide moves it forces the lowest blank forward. Thisblank, as it moves forward, drops downward, being permitted to do so by the incline of the ways, and is thus gradually deposited in the receiver. The column rests against the side of the slide while this operation is going on, and when the blank is sufficiently entered, the bevel on the latch strikes against the unlatchin g-pin t, which throws the latch out of gear with the stud or lug, and the spring then retracts the slide into its socket. As the end of the slide passes the end of the ways o, another blank drops down andis in place in advance of the slide, ready for the next stroke. I intend to claim this delivering apparatus in another` patent.

I wish it to be understood that the shafts, gear, &c., may be variously modified in number and arrangement, and that the carryingwheel'may be rotated and slid by any appropriate machinery, although I prefer a single cam acting in combination with ay slide and stationary pawl. I also wish it to be understood that the number of receivers is unimportant, so long as each-is brought in succession to the gripper, and that they maybe constructed in any way, so long as they will receive a screw-blank, and will afterward grip the same when their ends are forced'into the socket.

Although I believe myself to be the inventor of a sliding receiving and holding contrivance composed of jaws and capable of holding a screw-blank, as in a vise, and forced to grip the blank by being thrust forward into a tapering socket, substantially as herein described,

I do not claim a receiving and holding cona nickingsaw, the combination being substan tially as set forth.

3. Imparting the motions to a series of receivers, as described, not only to grasp blanks by forcing the receivers into a socket, but also to feed the blank against a saw, or its equivaient, so as to cut a nick to the proper depth by means of a single cam acting in combination with a series of receivers and holders, substantially as described.

H. A. HARVEY.

In presence of- J As. S. WIGHTMAN, P. J AMEs GAGE. 

